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Repaying Debts of Gratitude
- Ho-on Sho -
BACKGROUND:
"Repaying Debts of Gratitude" is one
of Nichiren Daishonin's ten major writings. It is dated July 21, 1276, a little
more than two years after the Daishonin had retired to Mount Minobu. It was
prompted by the news of the death of Dozen-bo, the chief priest of the
Shobutsu-bo of Seicho-ji temple in Awa Province, who had been the Daishonin's
teacher when he first entered the temple as a boy of twelve. Nichiren Daishonin
wrote this treatise as an expression of gratitude to Dozen-bo, and sent it to
Joken-bo and Gijo-bo, his former seniors at Seicho-ji who later became his
followers. Mimbu Niko, one of the Daishonin's disciples, took this writing to
Seicho-ji temple on his behalf and read it aloud, at Kasagamori on top of Mount
Kiyosumi where the Daishonin had first chanted daimoku, and again in front of
the tomb of the late master, Dozen-bo.
In 1233, Nichiren Daishonin had entered Seicho-ji temple to study Buddhism
with Dozen-bo as his teacher. At that time, temples served as centers of
learning as well as religion. During his stay at this local temple, the
Daishonin developed his extraordinary literary skills which later proved so
valuable in propagating his teachings. He also embarked on a lifelong journey to
find and proclaim the unique truth of Buddhism, which had been all but obscured
by the emergence of various misleading sects. Seicho-ji had first belonged to
the Tendai-Hokke sect which adhered to the teachings of the Lotus Sutra passed
down from T'ien-t'ai and Miao-lo of China to Dengyo of Japan. But later it fell
under the influence of, first, the Shingon sect with its mystic rituals, and
later, the Jodo or Pure Land sect with its reverence for Amida Buddha. Thus,
even at Seicho-ji temple, the confusion within Buddhism as to its proper form
was starkly evident, and this situation did not escape the young priest's
attention.
On the morning of April 28, 1253, Nichiren Daishonin climbed to the summit of
Kasagamori and chanted the first invocation of the supreme Law,
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Thirty-two at the time, he had just returned to Seicho-ji
after more than ten years of study at temples in Kyoto, Nara and other major
centers of Buddhist learning. It had been arranged that he would give a sermon
at noon in the Shobutsu-bo to relate the fruits of his efforts. On that
occasion, the Daishonin not only proclaimed Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to be the sole
teaching leading directly to enlightenment in the Latter Day of the Law, but he
also denounced the doctrines of the then-prevalent Pure Land sect. Among the
members of the audience was Tojo Kagenobu, the steward of the area and a fervent
Pure Land believer. Furious, he sent his men to the temple to arrest the
Daishonin. Dozen-bo was himself an ardent believer in the Pure Land teaching,
but he had great affection for his young disciple. While afraid to defend him
openly, he instructed two senior priests, Joken-bo and Gijo-bo, to show the
Daishonin a little-known path which would lead him to safety.
Nichiren Daishonin and his former teacher met again in 1264, when the
Daishonin went to visit his home in Awa Province after returning from exile on
the Izu Peninsula. He later wrote that Dozen-bo had asked him on this occasion
if his practice of the Pure Land teaching would lead him into the hell of
incessant suffering. In reply, the Daishonin told Dozen-bo that he could not
free himself from the effects of his slander unless he revered the Lotus Sutra
as the fundamental teaching. Afterward, though he did not entirely recant his
belief in Amida, Dozen-bo carved a statue of Shakyamuni Buddha. The Daishonin
rejoiced that Dozen-bo was apparently beginning to see his error, because he
felt indebted to this man who had initiated him into the priesthood and
earnestly desired to lead him to the correct teaching. Even Dozen-bo's death
could not diminish the Daishonin's feelings of gratitude toward his teacher.
In the opening section of this Gosho, Nichiren Daishonin states that those
who study Buddhism should without fail repay their obligation to their parents,
their teachers, the three treasures of Buddhism and their sovereigns. He
stresses the importance of repaying gratitude as a fundamental aspect of human
behavior. Of the four debts of gratitude mentioned above, this writing
emphasizes specifically repaying the debt owed to one's teacher.
Next, Nichiren Daishonin states that in order to repay such debts, one must
master the truth of Buddhism and attain enlightenment. In order to accomplish
this goal, he must set aside all lesser considerations and dedicate himself
single-mindedly to the Buddhist practice. However, to attain enlightenment, one
must also practice the correct Buddhist teaching. The Daishonin points out that
while each of the ten sects of Buddhism -- Kusha, Jojitsu, Ritsu, Josso, Sanron,
Kegon, Shingon, Tendai, Zen and Jodo -- insists on its sole legitimacy, in fact
none of them accurately reflects the true intention of the Buddha. In the body
of this Gosho, in tracing the development of the various sects of Buddhism in
India, China and Japan, the Daishonin examines their doctrines in terms of the
relative superiority of the sutras on which they are based, emphasizing the
supremacy of the Lotus Sutra. In particular, he refutes the erroneous doctrines
of the Shingon sect. He vehemently denounces Jikaku and Chisho who, though they
were patriarchs of the Japanese Tendai sect, corrupted the sect's profound
teachings, which are based on the Lotus Sutra, by mixing them with esoteric
elements. The Daishonin concludes that only the Lotus Sutra contains the
ultimate truth and, moreover, that the essence of the sutra, and of the whole of
Buddhism, is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. This is the teaching to be propagated in the
Latter Day of the Law.
The concluding part of the Gosho makes clear that the Buddha of the Latter
Day is none other than Nichiren Daishonin himself, and that the Buddhism he
established comprises the Three Great Secret Laws-- the invocation of daimoku of
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the object of worship and the high sanctuary-- which are
implicit in the depths of the Lotus Sutra but have never before been revealed.
The Daishonin declares that this teaching is so profound that it will save
people for the ten thousand years of the Latter Day and more, for all eternity.
The Daishonin also makes it clear that in establishing the Three Great Secret
Laws for the enlightenment of all people, he is at the same time repaying his
debt of gratitude to the deceased Dozen-bo. The Gosho, "On Flowers and Seeds," written two years after
the present work, states, "The blessings which I, Nichiren, obtain from
propagating the Lotus Sutra will return to Dozen-bo" This Gosho is particularly important because it is the first extant writing
in which Nichiren Daishonin specifies each of the Three Great Secret Laws. These
three, the core of the Daishonin's Buddhism, constitute the doctrine hidden in
the depths of the Juryo (sixteenth) chapter of the essential teaching of the
Lotus Sutra, and represent the Law which was transferred to the Bodhisattvas of
the Earth in the Jinriki (twenty-first) chapter for propagation in the Latter
Day. The true object of worship is the Dai-Gohonzon which the Daishonin
inscribed on October 12, 1279, to enable all people to attain Buddhahood; the
daimoku of true Buddhism is the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with faith in
the object of worship; and the high sanctuary is the place where the object of
worship is enshrined and the daimoku is chanted to it. The Daishonin established
the daimoku and the object of worship himself, but he entrusted his followers
with the mission of attaining kosen-rufu and establishing the high sanctuary
where all people may go to worship the Dai-Gohonzon.
Designed by Will Kallander